Engaging millennial voters in mayor’s race

The success in the outcome of the race for San Diego mayor will depend on not only the candidate, but also on which campaign can get out the vote in this special election — especially among the millennial generation (those between the ages of 18 and 28). President Obama’s landslide electoral victory in 2012 has been widely attributed to his campaign’s innovative use of social media to turn out the youth vote.

The Obama campaign was maximizing the use of data and analytical tools for digital engagement to reach certain demographics. In 2012, one of the demographics that contributed heavily to the victories of the president, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, and Congressman Scott Peters was the millennial vote. It’s a lesson that should be noted by the candidates who are vying for as many votes as possible in the special election to replace disgraced ex-San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement credits the Obama campaign’s digital strategy — specifically, the integration of social media tools into their Get Out The Vote efforts — with turning out 67 percent of the millennial vote. Millennials have grown up in a world in which technology and the Internet are part of everyday life, so any efforts to motivate or engage them that don’t rely heavily on technology and social media tools will surely fail to reach them. Social media engages millennials in political debate, helps them identify their polling locations, provides information on the candidate and issues and, arguably most importantly, reminds them to vote on Election Day. According to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, there are 144,012 millennial voters within the city of San Diego.

There are currently more than three dozen candidates running in the upcoming November election to replace Bob Filner. Of course, their campaigns will rely heavily on turning out traditional voting blocs, such as older individuals. But this time, that won’t be enough. In order to win the race, or at least be a candidate for a runoff election in January, they will need to get out the millennial vote.

In 2012, around 1.2 million Californians registered to vote using the state’s online voter registration program — and 30 percent were under the age of 25. Nearly two-thirds of those 244,000 young voters who signed up online did so in the month before the November election. That means that even though time is short, there is still ample opportunity to reach new, young voters who may have turned 18 since the last election. Additionally, these statistics show how millennials use the Internet to interact politically in an unprecedented way, which makes using the Internet as a means to reach millennials all the more important for political campaigns.

As always, there are unique challenges in trying to reach new, younger, voters. One is that millennials by and large have given up the landline in favor of smartphones through which they can surf the Web, tweet, Facebook, Instagram, email and text — all while on the go. According to the most recent Pew Research Center data of the 18-to-29-year-olds who are online, 83 percent use social networking sites; 86 percent are on Facebook, 27 percent are on Twitter, 28 percent are on Instagram and 13 percent are on Tumblr. Today, campaigns can target voters on Facebook by ZIP code, age and gender, and engage them in “real-time” conversations through monitoring the online narrative that is taking place. Of course, those only seeking to connect with voters who are sitting at home waiting for their landline phone to ring will miss out.

For a candidate seeking every possible vote, reaching millennials via these mediums is critical. Attracting millennials is not as simple as sending out tweets. Millennials respond to brand identity and to real engagement by candidates. An organized and strategically run campaign that brands their candidates in ways that makes them want to support their candidate on their own social media have a better chance of success.

Danon is vice president of strategic communications and public relations for DDC Advocacy, a Washington, D.C.-based international communications firm. He served as chief of staff to Congressman Brian Bilbray and as campaign manager and senior adviser to five San Diego mayoral campaigns.